


Une Semaine

by Carmenlire



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Coffee Shops, First Meetings, Lawyer Alec Lightwood, M/M, POV Alternating, References to Depression, Scientist Magnus Bane, Time Skips, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, University, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-11-03 15:58:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17880806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carmenlire/pseuds/Carmenlire
Summary: It starts on a Tuesday.Alec takes a long drink from his triple mocha and grimaces a little as the dregs hit his tongue. It’s his fourth-- sixth?-- coffee of the day and he shakes his head a little as he blinks owlishly at the screen of his laptop. When he looks up, Alec isn’t expecting to lock eyes with anyone.Their eyes meet and the low thrum of coffee shop chatter, the clatter of mugs and the rustle of paper, just fades away.Or, Alec and Magnus, one day at a time.





	Une Semaine

It starts on a Tuesday.

Alec takes a long drink from his triple mocha and grimaces a little as the dregs hit his tongue. It’s his fourth-- sixth?-- coffee of the day and he shakes his head a little as he blinks owlishly at the screen of his laptop.

This history paper is due in three hours for his afternoon special topics course and Alec still has eight pages of disjointed notes to type up-- along with his bibliography which, because his professor’s an asshole, has to be in APA format.

So when he looks up, Alec isn’t expecting to lock eyes with anyone. He’s been in this coffee shop since it opened at 5am and it’s going on eleven now. He figures he probably looks like a wreck right now-- bloodshot eyes betraying the nonexistent sleep he’d gotten the night before, hair in disarray from running a frustrated hand through it, his clothes downright slovenly-- he’s wearing a pair of sweats that has NYU’s Rugby insignia down the leg with a hoodie that’s as ancient as it is comfortable.

In short, he looks like a typical college kid during midterms.

This guy, though. _He_ looks like he just stepped off the pages of a goddamn NYFW spread.

His hair is height defying, his makeup sharp and a little intimidating, if Alec’s being honest with himself. His shirt is unbuttoned a fair bit despite the chill that’s started lingering in the October air and with his notes spread out on the table, clearly neat and organized, Alec figures they’re two sides of the same penny right now.

 _Jesus Christ_ , Alec thinks. 

Their eyes meet and the low thrum of coffee shop chatter, the clatter of mugs and the rustle of paper, just fades away. The man’s eyes are brown-- so deep that Alec knows he could easily drown in them-- and there’s a hint of teasing in his gaze even if Alec wonders if it’s at his own expense.

There’s a beat -- then two then three-- where their eyes stay locked. Then someone coughs, loudly and with enthusiasm, right next to his fucking chair.

Jerking out of the daze, Alec glares at the middle aged man who was spitting all over the shop’s copy of The New York Times. He shakes his head in disgust and turns back to his laptop. His panic surges as he looks at the time and sees that a whole three minutes have passed since he last looked.

This paper is forty-five percent of his grade and yeah, _sure_ , maybe he shouldn’t have waited until the day it was due to write the fucking thing but Alec’s never claimed to be a pillar of academia.

He can’t help himself, though. Looking up, Alec’s heart flutters just a little-- the traitorous bastard-- as he sees Model Boy looking right back at him. 

There’s a challenge in his eyes that Alec might just have taken him up on literally any other day. Cursing the professor, the class, and the entire university to boot, Alec smiles apologetically and looks back down at his page of notes.

He types his paper a little angrily and a lot frustrated and ends up making it to class with ninety seconds to spare-- and somehow, against all odds, scores an A- on the midterm from hell.

 

It starts on a Friday. 

Magnus is out at Ray’s, the local bar, with his friends. He just graduated-- a semester early, thank you very much-- and he’s swapped out his cap and gown for his best outfit. He’d spent ages on it, that and his hair and makeup. This is his last time going out as a college student. Tomorrow, the clock ticks forward and he’s a has-been, an _alumnus_.

The thought is mildly appalling even if Magnus is already slated to start his master’s program next month. It seems appropriate, somehow-- a new chapter to ring in the New Year.

This is the first stop of the night and it’s more laid back, casual. Magnus drinks a few long island iced teas-- the bar’s signature special, cheap and with enough alcohol to really get the night going-- while his friends make ridiculous toasts that make nostalgic tears prick his eyes. But then they’re moving on to flashier, louder venues. The bars start blurring together after a while and they’re at their final bar-that’s-more-of-a-club when Magnus sees _him_.

The boy from the coffee shop a couple of months ago. They’d never spoken, then-- Pretty Boy had obviously been suffering the term paper of the damned and Magnus sympathized. Luckily, he was mostly coasting by this semester, though he’d been working on a semester long project as a sort of senior capstone. 

Still, he thinks. There’d been _eye contact_ and Magnus had shivered a little, imperceptible, as he’d lost himself in those stunning hazel eyes, bright even across the room and even when they were bloodshot and drooping from exhaustion.

Alas, the man in question had smiled and focused back on his paper and Magnus had admired him from afar before collecting his things and going off to meet the professor who’d be mentoring him through his doctorate.

But as Magnus watches the brooding man at the bar, sipping a ridiculously pink drink, his curiosity reignites.

Magnus doesn’t think he can blame the vodka on the intrigue and want that floods him-- or at least, not very much.

Detaching himself from where he’d been dancing with a delightful woman, Magnus makes his way to the bar and as he leans against it-- not even wincing as his arm lands in a sticky puddle of who-knows-what-- he gets to watch those eyes widen almost alarmingly.

There’s conversation after that, flirty and fun but with an _undercurrent_. They have to shout to be heard over the riotous bass and ear-splitting music of the club. Magnus leans close and introduces himself and hears the breathlessness in _Alec’s_ voice as he returns the favor.

They share a few shots and Magnus draws Alec onto the dance floor. They dance too close-- but not close enough-- and he’s a little surprised and a lot appreciative to find out his Pretty Boy has _moves_.

For the rest of the night, they don’t stray too far from each other. Catarina passes them on the dance floor with someone and just rolls her eyes. Raphael is at the bar and doesn’t spare him a glance from where he’s talking to a guy that looks as excited as he is tipsy.

The club announces last call but neither Alec nor Magnus leave the dance floor. They stay until the music stops and the house lights turn on and everyone starts making their weaving way towards the front door.

His arms had been around Alec’s neck and Magnus urges him closer until their foreheads touch. Alec’s mouth is open and there’s a flush high on his cheeks.

Magnus can’t resist.

Tilting his head, Magnus leans in until they’re kissing and it’s grounding even as it makes his heart stutter.

The bouncers have to break them apart a minute later but Magnus isn’t annoyed. No, he pulls back and sees Alec watching him with a slow, sure smile. They’re ushered outside and the December air is downright brutal when Magnus feels so overheated.

Magnus presses close to stay warm and they wait for their Ubers to arrive. Magnus sees his friends out of the corner of his eye and notices Alec acknowledging a pair close to the curb.

Time seems to go by much faster as his veins are swimming with liquor and it feels like just a minute later that Alec’s stepping back as his sister comes over to say their ride’s arrived.

Magnus is crestfallen until he’s not-- because before he goes, Alec ducks in and kisses him again and they exchange numbers as snow starts to fall.

 

It’s a Wednesday morning and if you would have asked Alec before, he would’ve said Wednesdays were his least favorite. There was none of the anticipation of Monday and the weekend still felt dreadfully far away. Wednesdays were an in-between space.

But then one morning, Alec wakes up wrapped in gold sheets with Magnus wrapped around _him_.

He turns around slowly-- so as not to disturb his boyfriend-- and his breath catches.

Magnus is always beautiful but the morning light turns him ethereal. He’s sleeping, face bare and hair going every which way. There’s a bit of drool on his chin and Alec finds it more endearing than disgusting-- which must be saying quite a bit about how much he loves--

Loves.

Alec’s heart seems to stop, his chest shuddering at the realization. They’ve been dating for several months but all of a sudden this feeling coalesces in Alec. It’s nothing terribly new. It all makes sense now. This is what everything’s been heading towards since the beginning.

Alec loves Magnus and as the words flow through his brain, Alec relaxes against the sheets. It seems obvious as his eyes scan his boyfriend. He’s never felt like this before, no man has ever inspired this incredible well of feeling in him.

It feels like a new chapter and Alec has the sudden, desperate thought that he hopes this particular book is infinite, with no end in sight.

Magnus wakes up a few minutes later and smiles blearily at Alec before shuffling forward. His momentum is halted, however, when Alec opens his mouth.

The words tumble from his lips, soft and sure. Magnus eyes widen but even then he’s grinning. Alec echoes the expression when his boyfriend buries a hand in his hair and hauls him close across the sparse space of their separation and lays a kiss on him that makes him dizzy-- only to break apart just when things were getting _interesting_.

His boyfriend is breathing hard as he searches Alec’s eyes for something. He says three little words, mouth tilting up at the corner, and something in Alec eases at the confession, at the declaration.

They stay in bed until the sky is high in the sky, until Alec’s alarm starts blaring and he has to jump out of bed or risk being late for class-- Magnus, meanwhile, is free until his evening TA shift.

Magnus laughs at him as Alec takes a record shower and strides toward the small portion of his boyfriend’s closet that he’s started stashing things in.

He throws on one of Magnus’s hoodies by mistake and shoves the sleeves up to his elbows. He’s just about to run out of the apartment when he looks over on the bed and stops.

Magnus is reclining on both their pillows, scrolling aimlessly on his phone. He’s relaxed, content, and it’s nothing special. It’s just Magnus wasting a few minutes on his phone.

That’s what makes it everything.

This is the man that now owns his heart and Alec wouldn’t have it any other way.

Striding back to the bed, Alec leans over and kisses Magnus-- it’s deep and desperate but just a minute before it turns softer and lingering. 

When Alec remembers himself, he pulls away abruptly and all but runs out of the apartment with Magnus’s laughter following after him.

 

Well, this is shaping up to be the worst Monday Magnus has ever had.

Eyes smarting, throat working, he stares at the front door that had slammed closed just a few minutes before. He holds himself rigid, tension making his shoulders ache, before he sighs heavily.

Swallowing hard, Magnus takes the few steps to his chair and settles into it without any of his usual grace. He tilts his face up and thinks about the past hour and the volcanic argument that seems to have been brewing for the past week.

The thing is, it all seems so silly now. They’ve been living together for six months and Magnus has had a shitty week and Alec wouldn’t just put the goddamn dishes in the goddamn dishwasher. All Magnus wanted to do was hold Alec for a few hours and let his temper fizzle out.

Instead, Alec had stubbornly insisted on just rinsing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen from dinner-- _best to get it out of the way now_ , he’d shrugged-- and the next thing Magnus knew, they were yelling.

Remembering some of his insults, he winces. He’s defending his thesis in a couple of weeks and he feels so much pressure that it feels like he should be turning into a fucking diamond any second now. 

This is their first real fight and what a doozy it had been. Things had escalated from bad to awful and it had ultimately ended with Magnus calling Alec a fucking child and suggesting that they’d talk when he grew up. 

The loft had stilled and Magnus had stopped breathing as he replayed the past seconds as lead settled in his stomach. Alec had studied him for a beat and his eyes had shuttered before he’d turned on his heel and left without a word.

 _Jesus Christ_ , Magnus thinks. He’d been such an asshole.

Alec had given as good as he got, though, and Magnus winces again as he remembered biting retorts and scathing accusations about him not letting Alec in, even after all this time.

Wryly, Magnus realizes that Alec might just have a point. They’ve been together for over a year and Magnus still tries to keep a part of himself from Alec. He’s been in a few relationships and been told that he’s _too much_.

He really doesn’t want to be too much for Alec.

It’s all come to a head tonight, though, he’s forced to admit.

Distantly, he wonders how long it will be until Alec returns. He tries not to think _if_.

Magnus pours a glass of wine and then another. Evening descends into night and Alec has yet to come home. So, he drinks and he thinks and he worries and he agonizes.

All in all, their relationship is so damned easy that Magnus really should have been prepared for this entire thing to blow up in his face. And he knows that this isn’t what this is. They had a fight. All couples fight, they all have shitty days and accidentally take it out on their boyfriends and it’s not the end of the world.

Rationally, Magnus knows that.

But his heart hurts and the more wine he drinks, the more it seems to ache in his chest. He’s carried his own insecurities and fears through this relationship and this fight-- Alec’s stoic departure-- leaves his mouth dry.

Maybe it’s true, he wonders. Maybe Alec has finally seen something he can’t love and maybe this is the end that Magnus has been dreading since the start.

It’s after midnight and Magnus has finished the bottle of wine when the front door opens quietly. Alec walks in, looking exhausted and even so far away, Magnus can see the shadows bruising under his boyfriend’s eyes.

Alec closes the door and stares at the black wood for long minutes. The room is silent and Magnus doesn’t want to ruin it, doesn’t want to start round two before it feels like he’s even gotten his breath back from the first one.

All of a sudden, Alec sighs and his shoulders drop. He turns away from the door and toes off his shoes. Running a hand through his hair, he turns toward the living room and freezes when he sees Magnus sitting in the chair.

No one says anything but Magnus watches as an expression comes over Alec’s face. Alec walks over to him, doesn’t stop until he can kneel between Magnus’s spread legs.

“Hey,” he says softly.

“Hey, yourself,” Magnus returns and flinches when his voice cracks. 

They talk and there are tears and hard truths but Alec stays. They apologize and reassure and when Alec says that Magnus could never be too much, that he wants everything Magnus has to give-- that _he wants it all_ \-- something settles in Magnus.

He’s a work in progress. _They’re_ a work in progress.

Magnus wants to see this through, though. Distantly-- he tells himself it’s far too soon-- he hopes that seeing this through translates into _forever_ because he can’t imagine ever wanting to give everything to anyone but Alec.

 

It’s Sunday afternoon and Alec hasn’t done anything today. He feels tired even though he got a full eleven hours the night before-- along with a two hour nap just this morning.

Somehow, he thinks it’s the kind of exhausted that can’t be slept better.

It’s been so long since he’s been in a bad place that he hadn’t noticed the signs until they’d slapped him in the face. Everything is so much effort. It’s almost impossible to wake up in the mornings for his internship at the law office-- and he loves it there.

Loved?

No, Alec resolutely decides. He still loves it. Underneath this goddamn depression that’s hanging over him like a black cloud, he knows he still loves being a lawyer and walking into the family-owned law firm that had offered him a coveted internship.

It’s just hidden away like everything else is these days.

Magnus has been gone all day, since sun-up even. He’s gathering research for his Ph.D and his schedule is fit to bursting lately. The truth is, Alec’s glad for it.

They’ve been going out three years next month and Alec’s never told Magnus about this.

He thought it was behind him. His last flare up had been almost six months before he’d met Magnus and he didn’t want his boyfriend to think differently of him, in any case. Alec knows depression is nothing to be ashamed of, that millions of people struggle and that anyone who judges him differently is just an asshole.

He _knows_.

But it’s different when he’s worried about _Magnus's_ reaction. He doesn’t want his boyfriend to worry that he’s too much trouble-- and yeah, he knows that it’s a little idiotic to worry about that now that it’s on the other foot but he can’t help it.

Today’s his day off and Alec’s wasted it. He’s still in bed, hasn’t even gotten out to eat anything or drink even a cup of coffee.

He’s existing and he decided hours ago that this would just damned well have to be enough for today. His thoughts are a jumble, there’s dark, menacing thoughts wrapped in radio static. He’s so tired and all he wants is to curl under the covers and ride out the day, this terrible waste of a sunny spring day.

He doesn’t count on the front door opening in the afternoon sunshine. Listlessly, he looks at the clock and sees that Magnus is home hours earlier than expected.

Alec thought he had more time.

Magnus comes into their bedroom whistling, smiling, and Alec feels jealousy claw at him at the way his boyfriend looks so free and light and comfortable in his own goddamn skin.

That leaves, though, as Magnus sees Alec and he braces himself for the usual questions.

No, he’s not sick.

No, he’s not hurt.

No, nothing’s happened.

There’s no reason that Alec should feel like this, like he’s choking on air and wrong and dull.

So dreadfully dull.

Magnus sits down on the bed. He studies Alec even as he reaches a hand out and runs it through his hair, no doubt looking wretched.

Alec watches as Magnus puts the pieces together. He sees the awareness that flares in those brown eyes he loves so much and closes his own to avoid the unavoidable.

However to his surprise, Magnus doesn’t stop his ministrations. He keeps playing with Alec’s hair and it lights something in Alec. That’s the first contact, the first thing, that’s felt real in days.

It warms him, just a little. It makes the ice around his rib cage start to thaw.

Magnus crawls into bed and pulls Alec to him. They don’t talk right away and the shadows cast along the walls of their bedroom are deep when Alec starts to talk.

It comes out halting, hesitant. Fits and starts and pauses that betray Alec’s frustration and anxiety.

Magnus soothes him though. Alec isn’t immediately better, he’s not magically cured. A few hours cuddling and talking through shit aren’t much in the wake of what Alec’s been dealing with for over a decade.

It’s something, though. It’s a start.

 

Thursdays are neither here nor there.

Magnus walks along the the busy New York sidewalk, his hand in Alec’s. They have a date planned for tonight, though Alec’s been infuriatingly tight-lipped about their destination.

His boyfriend does so love to be cryptic.

Magnus follows, content, and bumps into his boyfriend’s shoulder a time or four _accidentally_.

Alec’s so entertaining when he’s pretending to be unaffected.

Magnus has no idea where they are and he doesn’t care. It’s a Thursday and for all he knows, Simon had recommended a new burger joint that Alec wanted to try out. As long as Magnus is with Alec, it doesn’t matter where they are.

He has to admit that he winces to himself, just a little, at that painfully, _cloyingly_ sentimental drivel.

Still, he loves Alec and he can be as sappy as he wants in his own mind.

Magnus people watches as they walk towards their destination. It’s slow to hit him but he finally realizes that the demographic’s changed. Instead of the streets being filled with men in suits and women in heels, there are backpacks and skateboards and converse.

That’s when he realizes that they’re walking along the edge of NYU’s main campus.

He has to admit, he’s intrigued. Alec had graduated from the school two and a half years ago and Magnus was going to Columbia for his doctorate. Neither one had any reason to be in this part of the city.

Now that he studies their surroundings, Magnus sees that they’re coming up on a few of his favorite stores and restaurants. Still, he’s surprised when they round a corner and Alec pulls him into--

A coffee shop.

It looks the same, even if it has been a few years since Magnus desperately ordered his coffee with a side of pessimistic optimism, hopeful and terrified at what life could possibly have in store for him.

It’s early evening and it’s not crowded, not yet at least. The coffee shop seems to be in a dead time and Magnus is looking along the walls-- the local place always displayed the art program’s best-- when he turns his head to look at Alec.

It’s supposed to be a questioning look because why are they at a coffee shop when they’re supposed to have dinner plans?

The answer stares Magnus in the face and he can’t catch his breath for the wave of emotion that drowns him.

Alec is standing in front of him, holding a ring. It’s beautiful and unique and just what Magnus would have picked if given the option.

He bites his lip to keep his tears at bay, to keep the fervent _yes_ from falling out of his mouth before Alec’s even had a chance to ask.

Alec goes into a rambling speech about beginnings and espresso and love and forever and at one point, Magnus forgets to care that, in a quirk of fate, he’d ran out of waterproof mascara this morning and had instead used the regular stuff.

He forgets to care that he’s not usually so emotional in public.

He forgets that there are people watching, glued to the unfolding scene.

All he cares about is the man before him, earnest but hopeful and the fucking love of Magnus’s life.

When Alec's speech ends-- a little abruptly, even Alec looking surprised that he’d run out of steam-- his _fiance_ falls to one knee and raises the ring a little, as if trying to tempt Magnus into accepting.

Magnus scoffs to himself. As if there has ever been another answer to Alec’s question.

Pulling Alec up, Magnus nods and accepts and then Alec’s crying too as he slides the ring onto Magnus’s left hand.

The coffee shop explodes into applause but Magnus barely hears it over the roaring in his ears. Alec hauls him close by the lapel of his blazer and kisses him.

It tastes like just the beginning. It feels like the rest of his life.

 

It starts on a Saturday.

Alec stands at the altar and looks across at Magnus.

They share a look and Alec sees his own wonder and surprise and happiness reflected in his fiance’s eyes.

The minister drones on about love and honor and commitment but it’s like a buzzing in his ears. Alec can’t focus on anything but the way eyeliner perfectly frames Magnus’s eyes or the way his hand fits in Alec’s like it was made to be there. 

There’s nothing else but Magnus until there’s not.

Interrupted, Alec checks in to see Magnus looking at him expectantly with a raised brow. Jace elbows him in the back and hisses something about repeating the vows. Everyone laughs good-naturedly, indulgent, and Alec takes it with good grace.

He repeats his vows, taking his time with each line, weighing every word. He wants to remember this part. He wants to make sure that each word that he’s promising Magnus is suitably _heavy_ , that his vow is made and accepted with all the feeling that’s locked in his chest.

From Magnus’s smile, Alec knows that his point has come across.

Magnus repeats the vows and while his voice is light with an undercurrent of teasing, Alec reads the gravitas in his eyes and feels the words sear onto his heart with the most steadfast iron.

There’s a moment between the vows and the kiss where they still as if by some magical design in the universe. It seems like everyone holds their breath, waiting for the kiss, but Magnus and Alec only have eyes for each other.

Alec loses himself in those brown eyes and dizzily thinks that this is the rest of this life, this is his forever.

He couldn’t be happier.

They move towards each other and whisper _I love you_ for just the two of them to hear and then they’re kissing and it’s sharp but soft and so overwhelming that Alec doesn’t think he’ll ever come above water again.

It’s yet another chapter in the life he’s built with Magnus.

It’s the beginning of their forever and Alec wonders if he’ll always think that. Will he wake up every day and think this is the beginning all over again. 

He’s had a thousands beginnings with Magnus and every one feels better than the last.

As Alec pulls back and sees Magnus’s grinning face, the way tears have dampened the corner of his eye, he settles. It’s familiar but it’s new and that’s a feeling that he’ll always associate with his husband. That unbridled potential, the comfort of knowing.

It’s a start.

**Author's Note:**

> Catch me on tumblr or twitter @carmenlire!


End file.
